I've Found You
by Jeune Ecrivain
Summary: The duration of Camp Rock’s summer 2008 session has been extended in celebration, leaving Shane and Mitchie with some more time to spend together. Nate finally gets fed up with Shane’s lovesick behavior and convinces him to take action.
1. Chapter 1

**I've Found You**

**By Jeune Ecrivain**

**Rating: K+**

**Summary: The duration of Camp Rock's summer 2008 session has been extended in celebration, leaving Shane and Mitchie with some more time to spend together. Nate finally gets fed up with Shane's lovesick behavior and convinces him to take action.**

**Disclaimer: The movie **_**Camp Rock**_** and all related trademarks belong by rightful copyright to the Walt Disney Company. This story is written only for entertainment purposes out of respect for Disney's work. No profit is being made from it, nor is it the author's intention to do so.**

**A/N: Well, once again, Disney deprived us of the traditional end-of-movie kiss between the two protagonists, so it looks like it's up to the fanwriters again, at least for now. Please forgive the rather obvious advertising of my Spanish lyrics for "This Is Me," the complete version of which is posted in my profile for any interested fans out there. Also, you'll see in my scene separator that I've coined the suggested ship name "Mitchane." Hilariously, the first idea that popped into my head was "Sh-tchie" (the hyphen represents an 'i', since the site automatically deletes asterisks), which due to its unfortunate resemblance to a curse word, I quickly surmised was highly unbecoming to something as sweet and noble as a romantic ship. Anyway, I'll shut up now and move on with the story.**

_No me voy.  
__Ésta soy.  
__En mi propio nicho yo ya estoy.  
__¡Y brilla esa luz  
__En mi hoy!  
__Es verdad.  
__Es me ser.  
__No me puedo detener.  
__No esconderé más quién yo soy.  
__Ésta soy._

"OOF!"

"Sweet nibblets!" exclaimed Nate Black, having just thrown a pillow directly into his bandmate Shane Gray's face to stop another random solo rendition of the song that had mysteriously captured the latter's fancy so thoroughly it seemed to be all he thought about…besides the very girl who had written the admittedly catchy tune. "She's got you singing it in Spanish now?! It was amusing at first, but it was already starting to get old even before you went bilingual with it! You've been randomly humming or singing that song for two weeks now! I even caught you singing it in your sleep one time!" He rolled his eyes and laid back in exasperation on the sofa. "Besides, since when do you even know Spanish?"

Shane tossed the pillow back at Nate, who easily caught it. "You'd know some of it too if you paid attention during school!" he retorted. "And anyway, Mitchie's grandparents are Mexican, and she told me that they've been sure to keep her in touch with her heritage. So she wrote a Spanish version, and I was lucky enough to catch her singing it by the lake." He shook his head in awe. "I thought the song couldn't sound any better, but when she sings it in Spanish, it sounds even prettier! Especially with that awesome voice of hers!"

"So she basically cast her spell on you all over again," Nate interrupted.

"Hey, she's actually pretty smart doing what she did!" Shane defended. "The Hispanic market isn't getting any smaller, and being able to sing even a few songs in Spanish is becoming more and more of a competitive advantage in the record business! Mitchie was telling me how the lyrics don't mean exactly the same as the original version because then they wouldn't fit the music or rhyme scheme, but the goal is to come as close as you possibly can." He chuckled. "I never would've thought of that, but it makes perfect sense now! That's the thing about her! She's smart, talented,…"

"And beautiful?" Nate interrupted again. "Go on, say it. You know you want to."

"I was going to say 'down-to-earth,' but yeah, she's that too."

Nate rolled his eyes once more and rose lazily from the leather couch on which he had been lounging. "Who the heck do you think you're kidding, dude? Half the time, if you're not singing her song to yourself, you're talking about her somehow, and you spend at least a couple hours almost every day now down by the lake swapping songs and bouncing new tunes or lyrics off of her!"

"That is a two-way street," Shane clarified.

"Whatever, man!" Nate replied. "I'm starting to think you're more in love with the girl than the song! And if you are, you need to do something about it before you drive both Jason and me insane with your lovesickness!"

"I've only known her for about a month. Don't you think you're being a little over-dramatic?"

"Okay, maybe it's a little soon for the 'l' word, but any idiot can see the potential in this bond you guys are developing. Even Jason can see it, for cryin' out loud, and that's saying something. And deep down, I think you both want to explore that potential. At the risk of sounding sappy, I'm going to tell you: it'd be a shame not to! But until one of you makes the first move, you at least are probably going to keep acting like a dork, and based on what I've heard on the Camp Rock grapevine, I'm suspicious that she's acting up in her own way too."

"You realy think so?" Hope colored Shane's tone.

Nate sighed. "Yes."

"But what if you're wrong? What if she doesn't feel the same way? I don't want to lose her as a friend…"

"Oh, sweet nibblin' nibblets, are we actually having this conversation?!" Nate interrupted for the third time before pointing a finger firmly towards the cabin's front door. "Just go! Right now! I get that you like this girl. I do. But I refuse to give some clichéd speech that's going to make me sound like I stepped out of some cheesy teen romantic comedy! You have to talk to her anyway about our next CD, so now's the perfect opportunity! Go!"

Shane stammered in protest for a moment. What shocked him most was not Nate's words themselves but how accurate they suddenly seemed. Had he been in some sort of denial? He still felt slightly confused and oddly apprehensive, but intuition told him that the best course of action was to follow his companion's advice. So, he stood up with a heavy sigh and headed on his way.

--M&S--MITCHANE--M&S--

"I got your text message."

Shane emerged abruptly from his idle revelry and stood up to face Mitchie. He had sent her a message on her cell phone asking that she meet him at their favorite locale by the Camp Rock lake. He smiled warmly at her. She looked smiled back and looked at him expectantly. A brief, slightly awkward pause followed before he blurted, "I want you to sing with me."

She stepped closer to him, still smiling but looking a little confused. "Huh?"

Deciding to buy himself some time before saying what he somehow knew he should say, he proceeded telling her the original reason he'd needed to talk to her. "I talked to Margaret, and she agreed to do a duet with Nate instead of me. She was actually quite understanding really. She almost had this…knowing look on her face." He shook his head, realizing that he was stalling. "Anyway, Margaret's great, but the only girl I can see myself singing with is you. That song of yours means alot to me. It helped me realize that I had sort of lost myself since I was a camper here. I lost sight of who I was and what was really important, and you helped me find that again."

By now she was staring at him in awe. "Shane, I…don't know what to say."

Shane nodded gently. "I just…wanted to thank you, first of all, for teaching me to be myself again. I think that's a lesson we both learned this past month," he said with a chuckle accompanying that last statement. "But more than that, that song is really special, and it would mean alot to me if you'd share it with me just this once." He smiled at her again before continuing. "So I want to adapt 'This Is Me' into a duet just for you and me. No mixing it up with 'Gotta Find You,' no matter how well it turned out at the Final Jam. I want the song to be all yours."

For a moment, Mitchie was speechless. She gazed at him in awe, and her eyes threatened to shed a few tears. "Wow, Shane! I'm really happy my song helped you so much, and I would love to sing it with you on your CD! Are you sure Nate and Jason will be okay with it? What about your agent or your producer?"

"I don't think Nate or Jason will be a problem, and as far as my agent and producer are concerned, they won't object once they hear how great you are. If they don't, I'll talk them into it one way or another. This is something I really want to do," he answered seriously.

Mitchie blushed, somehow convinced merely by the determination Shane displayed. "Then I'll do it…on one condition."

"Anything."

"We do the same thing with 'Gotta Find You,'…because that song is special to me too, especially since I found out it was about me." She stopped and looked at him earnestly. "I mean, not that it wasn't wonderful before, but…"

"I get it," Shane reassured her. "I'm glad you think my song was that good."

"Are you kidding? It was lovely!"

"Thanks. So, do we have a deal?"

Mitchie grinned and held out her hand. "Absolutely!"

Shane grinned back and shook it, but his gaze soon turned bemused.

"Was there something else?" asked Mitchie.

Shane sighed for the third time that day, and his initial apprehension returned. He did not know how exactly to approach this, so he decided to try the relatively honest approach. Looking once more at her beautiful, caring face, a surprising urge began to arise within him. So, he threw caution to the wind. "Mitchie,…" he began. "…have you ever wanted to do something that might have been kind of premature but also felt sort of overdue at the same time?"

Mitchie furrowed her brow in contemplation for a moment, forming an expression that Shane could only inwardly describe as cute. "No, I can't really think of anything. Why?" she replied quizzically.

"There's something that I want to do, and it's risky,…but I think it's something I need to do, just to see where it goes."

Mitchie looked at him with concern and curiosity, and hoping to relieve whatever pressure her new and dear friend seemed to be facing, gave him the best advice she could give him. "I think you should do it."

Shane pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully, avoiding her eyes for a moment before he raised his gaze to look straight into them. "Then I hope you don't blame me if I do this." Before he could over-think his actions, he gently took both her hands in his. He then leaned in cautiously, pausing with mere millimeters between their faces before pressing his lips tenderly upon hers. Mitchie stiffened slightly in surprise, but her eyes instinctively fluttered shut, and she soon returned the kiss with little hesitation. After a few seconds, Shane withdrew, but he didn't get far before Mitchie defiantly initiated a second liplock. She slipped her arms around his neck and parted her lips. Shane's arms found their way around her waist, and he gladly deepened the kiss, which escalated in passion until they finally parted.

"Wow!" breathed Shane, smiling broadly. "I'll take that as a 'No, I don't blame you at all.'"

Mitchie grinned back, her eyes conveying happiness. "Actually, that's a 'Shut up and keep doing it.'"

Shane laughed out loud and happily obliged.

From the window of Shane's cabin, Nate and Jason watched the scene distantly, each holding a small bowl of popcorn. "This is such a chick flick!" exclaimed Nate. "And yet I can't look away!"

"I know what you mean, dude," agreed Jason

" We've lost him," Nate said with a small, bemused smile on his face "He's gone," he restated. "It's a law of nature. Except for family, a man's best buds are the most important people in his life,…until he gets a girl."

Jason's expression now mirrored Nate's. "Well, if ever there was a way to lose yourself,.." He gestured towards the distant kissing figures. "…that's it."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: By popular demand, here's a continuation of my story. As always, I tried to keep the romance strong but not over-the-top, but in the end I think I just proved myself to be an even bigger sap than I thought I was. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!**

"Did you bring it?"

Mitchie giggled at her companion, who oddly resembled a child on Christmas morning, and held up the homemade CD of which he was speaking with a broad grin. He reached for it, but she moved it out of his grasp. "Ah, ah, ah," she admonished, playfully wagging her finger at him before holding an open palm out to him in an expectant gesture.

Shane smirked at her and pulled out his own CD, placing it with impish defiance into her hand. "You drive a hard bargain, woman," he said as he finally plucked the prize he sought from her other hand.

The couple was once again standing on the dock at Lake Rock. The now redish-orange sun was beginning to set, bathing the scene in warm tones. Camp Rock's extended 2008 summer session was drawing to a close, and Shane had insisted on having an MP3 or CD of "This Is Me" to entertain him on the long tour that awaited him. The tune's composer had agreed only on the condition that he repay her in kind with "Gotta Find You."

Mitchie had also taken a leap of faith and included some other original songs of hers, a few of which her famous comrade would be the first besides herself to hear. Likewise, Shane had also included a few other personal compositions that he hadn't shared with anyone yet because they hadn't been compatible with Connect Three's current image. He hoped that, in due time, these more meaningful songs would find an outlet and that Mitchie would be a part of that outlet.

The two smiled in silent thanks at each other as silence ensued and pocketed the CDs. Mitchie sighed wistfully and sat down, letting her legs dangle over the water. "I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow."

Shane smiled sadly and claimed a seat next to her. "Me neither. I'm really going to miss you."

"You mean my music, my 'different' personality, or the…other stuff?" she half-teased, blushing towards the end of her question.

"You mean that thing we did yesterday that involves our hands and lips but, for once, no guitar?" he smirked before turning momentarily serious. "Mitch, I'm going to miss it all. I'm going to miss hanging out with someone who's not in it just because I'm famous. I'm going to miss singing to you and listening to you sing. I'm going to miss talking to you. I'm going to miss you, period."

"I'm going to miss all that too," Mitchie replied sincerely. "I mean, I went from thinking this summer was going to be a blast to being totally depressed, and you know what? It ended up being so much better even than I thought it would be when I first found out I could come. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster!"

Shane nodded. "I know, Mitch. I went into this thinking it was going to stink and that it was all a waste of time, but I ended up finding a new outlook on things that's made me happier than I've been in a long time. I found myself again, I found something to sing about that actually means something, and to top it all off, I met a beautiful girl!" His face fell slightly. "She gave me a second chance,…even after I didn't give her a chance to explain herself when I found out she wasn't exactly who I thought she was. You really did understand about keeping up an image, just not in the way I'd thought, and I'm sorry I didn't see that."

Mitchie, who had been shaking her head with increasing fervor for a few moments as he had been talking, cut him off at that. "Shane, you had every right to be mad. I'm the one who should be sorry, for lying to you and to everyone else. I just didn't think anyone would take me seriously if I wasn't a real somebody, you know?"

"But you are somebody, Mitch!" Shane protested. "If nothing else, you're the girl whose beautiful voice helped bring me back down to Earth. That in itself makes you special."

Mitchie beamed at him. "And you say you never gave me a second chance!" she chuckled. "You kissed me yesterday, for heaven's sake! That was much more than I could've hoped for!"

"You kissed me back, and that's pretty much all I was hoping for at the time," Shane pointed out.

Mitchie blushed again. "Really?"

Shane smiled gently and nodded. "Yep. And I'm hoping to make a habit of it, if you'll let me."

Mitchie grinned. "I thought I made my feelings clear when I told you to shut up and keep kissing me."

"Well, yeah, but you can never be quite sure with women," he smirked.

She smacked him playfully on the arm and gazed coyly downward for a few moments. Her expression then grew thoughtful. "So where does this leave us?" she ventured.

Shane leaned back pensively. "Well, let's see. I like you both as a friend and more, and based on your reactions yesterday, I'd say you feel about the same way." He looked at her for confirmation, slight apprehension in his eyes. She smiled warmly and nodded. "So…" he continued with a semi-impish smile that nevertheless belied genuine hope, "I guess that leaves me with no reason not to ask you to be my girlfriend."

Mitchie smiled from ear to ear. "And I guess that leaves me with no reason to say no."

Shane smiled back and leaned in slightly to kiss her, but he stopped and his face suddenly fell, which immediately brought a frown to Mitchie's face as well. "But before you accept, it's only fair that I warn you how hard it might be sometimes. I'm going to do my best to spend as much time with you as I can so we can see where this…relationship…goes, but I can't make any promises. With your talent and all, I'm hoping that maybe you can become a part of a joint career with me, but there's your parents and the paparazzi and everything else to deal with." He swallowed. "I'll understand if you want to rethink this, and…"

As he spoke, Mitchie gazed at him, grateful for his foresight and consideration, but the very fact that he was risking something he obviously wanted to protect her just made a relationship with him seem all the more worth the struggles she knew they would probably face. So, she gave him a small smile and brought an index finger to his lips. "You talk too much," she said before leaning him and kissing him tenderly on the mouth. "I know there are going to be issues to deal with, but I think it's worth facing them together."

"You're amazing, you know that?" Shane blurted.

Mitchie blushed for what seemed like the umpteenth time. "You're not that bad yourself," she shot back. "Now, we've already exchanged AIM screennames, so you can bet we'll be chatting alot until we see each other again, but last time I checked, you can't make out in cyberspace, and our time here is running short. So less talking, more kissing."

"Why, Mitchie Torres, this is a side of you I've never seen before!" he teased, gripping her around the waist. "And I like it!"

Mitchie giggled as Shane pulled her onto his lap, and their lips collided hungrily. A succession of tender yet fervent kisses followed, each exploring the other's mouth and savoring the taste of the other's lips. Mitchie's hands found their way into Shane's messy hair seemingly of their own volition, while Shane's hands moved almost rhythmically up and down her lower back and sides. It would be twighlight before a significant pause in such activities would occur.

--SMITCHIE--

"Sweet! We've hit the blackmail jackpot!" Nate declared quietly from his perch behind some shrubbery several yards away from Shane and Mitchie, capturing their words and actions with a digital camera. "It's not exactly my favorite thing to watch, but this view is awesome and this footage is gold!" He turned to Jason and did a minor double take. "Dude, are you crying?"

"No," Jason replied hastily, wiping his face in a lame attempt at discretion. "I got something in my eyes. That's all." He pointed at the kissing couple to distract Nate. "Ooh! Do I see tongue?"

Nate immediately turned back to his camera and looked into the eyepiece. "Not quite," he said after a few moments. "But I think I saw a little bare midriff contact! If they keep this up, they'll be in PG-13 territory soon!" he reported excitedly.

"Isn't this kind of an invasion of privacy or something?" Jason suggested. "I mean, they're really getting into it now. Us watching and recording it might be a little creepy at this point."

Without looking away, Nate responded. "Maybe, but I'm not quite creeped out enough yet to stop. Besides, it's human nature to want to watch other people get some action. Don't believe me? Go to a movie theater. My only regret is that it took 'em so long to get started."

"Good point," Jason agreed. "Still, how far would you get with a girl before you'd want it to be completely private? I mean, at what point are we breaking the Golden Rule?"

Nate rolled his eyes and faced Jason. "The Golden Rule?"

"Don't do anything to others you wouldn't want done to yourself, or something like that." Jason recited.

"Jase, that's the Silver Rule."

"Really? I thought the Silver Rule was to honor your mom and dad."

"That's a Commandment, Jason!"

"So I guess loving your neighbor is a Commandment too."

"Ya think?!"

"So what's the Copper Rule?"

"The Copper Rule?"

"You know. The one right above the Platinum Rule."

"There is no Platinum Rule, dude!"

"I thought for sure there was."

"Ugh! How did we get into this conversation again?!"

"Uh…guys?" interjected a third voice.

Nate and Jason had failed to notice that their discussion had risen in volume enough to alert the subjects of their video to their presence, and Shane and Mitchie were now standing over them with their arms crossed.

"Hey, Shane, Mitchie," Nate said somewhat nervously. Jason just grinned sheepishly.

Glaring at Nate's camera for a moment, Shane replied with sarcastic excitement. "This would be the part of the movie where the nosy kids run for their very lives!"

"Right. We'll get right on that," Nate said meekly before taking off as fast as his legs could carry him with Jason not far behind and Shane and Mitchie in hot pursuit.

**A/N: I hope that last scene matched up to my first Nate/Jason comic relief scene. In any event, there's a little bluish-purple button down there. You see where I'm going with this? Good. So…click it! : )**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter was slow in coming out. This story kind of got away from me, and I decided it best to wrap it up into a tidy three-shot and be done with it. I pride myself in successfully walking the thin line between "sweet" and "sappy," but I think I've lost my touch. I guess it's just more reason to keep writing to get back into practice. I'm not sure now if I should start working on an original epic fantasy that's been developing in my head for ages or take it slow and either pick up some of my abandoned fics or try writing another "Camp Rock" fic with an actual plot this time.**

Mitchie sighed as she folded the last of her clothes and placed them neatly into her lime green duffel bag. It was almost noon on the day of departure, wryly referred to as "D-Day" by many campers. The campgrounds were abuzz with hurried last-minute packing, bittersweet goodbyes, exchanging of various kinds of contact information, anxious questions about who all would be returning next summer, complaints about the difficulties that lie ahead in school, and speculations about the future. Camp Rock would officially close at four o'clock sharp, and Mitchie was glad to have just finished packing early so she could spend a couple hours just having fun with Caitlyn, Peggy, and most importantly Shane.

At the thought of her new boyfriend, she couldn't help but smile. In retrospect, much of what had happened during her stay at Camp Rock seemed overwhelming and a bit surreal. She had experienced popularity for the first time in her life only to discover that it ultimately wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She had learned to have confidence in herself as she truly was without any pretenses. She had found what she suspected would be a lifelong friend in Caitlyn, whose musical aspirations would only serve to complement her own. She had developed an equally close bond with a famous rock star, whom she had apparently helped to rediscover himself as well. As if that weren't enough, she and said rock star had managed to turn their unique friendship into a budding romance.

She chuckled to herself as she realized that roughly three quarters or more of the teenage female population would kill to be in her place if they knew, and yet her happiness at being Shane Grey's girlfriend was of a calmer, deeper sort than the shallow ecstasy of an infatuated fangirl. In fact, such crazed fans would probably have interpreted her silent contentment as a lack of full appreciation for her good fortune, but she was merely excited to be embarking on a new relationship with a boy with whom she felt a special connection that was begging to be explored.

Mitchie emerged from her revelry with a surprised gasp as a pair of masculine arms encircled her waist firmly yet gently from behind and a strong chin came to rest on her collar. She tensed momentarily in fright but quickly relaxed into her captor's arms as she intuitively realized his identity. She blushed at the intimacy of the gesture and at how unexpectedly comfortable she was with it, having only met Shane Grey about a month ago. "Hey," she greeted softly with a smile, turning her head to see the face she somehow knew was there.

"Hey," he echoed before kissing her softly on the mouth. "Packing?"

She smirked. "No, I'm just enjoying this really fun game where I take stuff in an out of bags for hours on end. Wanna play?"

"That sarcasm…kinda turns me on," he remarked, squeezing her abdomen to emphasize the point before releasing her and stepping to her side to face her more fully.

Mitchie giggled and turned to face him. "And you can be very distracting, Mister!" she accused. "I was trying to finish up early so I have a good few hours to hang out with my new friends before we have to leave."

"Including your incredibly hot boyfriend?" he quipped.

She tilted her head and protruded her bottom lip in mock thoughtfulness. "I guess I could squeeze him in,…that is if he can get his ego down to where it'll fit."

Shane recoiled in mock hurt. "That cut deep, Mitch," he teased.

"You'll get over it," she said with a nonchalant smile. "I'm just about done here, so why don't we go hang out until camp closes?"

Shane smiled warmly and nodded. "Sounds like a plan. But first, I came here to give you these." He withdrew from the rear pocket of his jeans three tickets and a laminated badge and handed them to her.

"Front-row seats to your concert in Sacramento and a top-access backstage pass," she observed with a growing grin. "How did you get this picture?" She indicated the photo on her pass.

"Your mom was kind enough to share a particularly good candid shot she got of you from after the Final Jam. I kinda wanted to surprise you, so I went to her first. She told me where you live, and Sacramento is our nearest stop on the tour."

"So Mom's already said I could go? Sweet!" Mitchie exclaimed. "Thank you, Shane," she added with great sincerity. "Now I don't have to wait 'til the end of the tour to see you! But why are there three tickets?"

"Well, I'm not sure how public you want to be about our relationship, but I think it's only fair that you at least have someone back home to share it with besides your parents. So, the tickets are for you and two trusted friends and/or family members," he explained. "If you e-mail us a photo of whoever you want to bring and the necessary personal info, I could probably arrange for a couple of passes to be sent to you as well. No more than two, though. Three people is sort of the unwritten limit for non-celebrity friends of each band member."

She giggled. "You do realize I have only one friend at my school, right?"

Shane chuckled. "Yeah, although I'll never quite understand why. But you could always bring Caitlyn."

"True," Mitchie said with a small smile as she tucked the tickets and pass safely into the nearest bag. "Anyway, speaking of friends and all, I'm not planning on telling anyone besides my one friend Sierra about us. First of all, I don't think anyone would believe me," she chuckled before growing mildly serious. "More importantly, though, if I managed to convince everyone I was dating you, I'm pretty sure I'd be mobbed by dozens of people who want to get to you through me, even though they would never have given me a second glance before." A nod from Shane indicated his agreement with that assessment. "I'll admit, the instant popularity would be nice, but it would also be shallow, and I learned a hard lesson during camp about that. Plus, even though you've obviously forgiven me, it's just too soon after my big reveal to risk giving you any more reason to suspect that I'm just using you for fame and fortune." She realized that she was almost rambling, so she decided to conclude her mini-monologue. "So, I suggest that we keep this a secret for now, at least until we see where this relationship goes. That way, I think it has a better chance of developing the way we'd both like it to."

The lovestruck rock star stared at her with an expression that could best be described as a mixture of gratitude, fascination, and subtle awe.

His girlfriend felt herself blush. "You're giving me that look again."

Shane grinned and kissed her forehead. "I'm so glad to hear you say that, and I appreciate that you want to make sure I know your feelings for me are genuine, even though you've already got me pretty well convinced." He smiled fondly at her. "I was hoping you'd say something along those lines, 'cause I really wanted to keep this a secret for a while too in order to protect you from the paparazzi. They can be downright brutal in the things they publish and how they sometimes twist your words around!"

Mitchie smiled in appreciation and kissed him tenderly on the lips. "You're so much more than the rock star everyone else sees," she said softly.

"And you're so much more than those idiots at your school see," he retorted with sincerity matching her own.

She laughed. "So anyway, sneaking around could actually be fun. Kinda makes it more romantic. Of course, the only real downside is that we can't record either one of our songs until we're ready to go public, 'cause the label would have to put my name on the CD somewhere."

Shane shook his head, a good-natured smirk accenting his features. "Nope. Our songs are getting recorded as soon as I can arrange it with the label. This is why stage names were invented. How do you feel about 'Tori Mitchels'?"

Mitchie looked at him suspiciously. "Did you just now come up with that, or have you been thinking about this longer than you're letting on?"

"Just now."

"Shane…"

"Okay, I came up with it while I was laying awake last night thinking," he confessed, blushing slightly before adding in his defense, "You're leaving today, and I'm going to miss you!"

"I'm going to miss you, too! That's why I expect you to call me or IM me fairly often," she replied in mock warning.

He chuckled. "Count on it!"

--M&S--SMITCHIE--M&S--

"Oh, I am so going to miss you!" Caitlyn Gellar exclaimed for what was probably the third time that afternoon as she hugged Mitchie tight outside her cabin. "You be sure and call me as soon as you get home!"

Mitchie giggled. "I will," she replied, trying to be discrete about looking behind Caitlyn in search of another familiar figure. Shane had been inconveniently called away on business about an hour and a half earlier, and he'd promised to be back in time to say good-bye.

Caitlyn smirked knowingly. "He'll show up. Don't worry. That boy's got it bad! Everyone can see it!"

She blushed. "I think I do too," she confessed.

"You think?" remarked her mother Connie as she emerged from her catering truck with a smirk of her own. "Please. My maternal intuition had a field day just with the way you were looking at him at the Final Jam!" She looked pointedly at her daughter. "And don't think I don't know you two have made things official, either. I hardly think you can get flushed, swollen lips and hastily re-smoothed hair from just singing songs on a dock."

Mitchie's grin became agape with surprise while Caitlyn laughed out loud. "Ooh, busted! Your mom totally owned you!" the latter teased.

Connie digressed. "In all seriousness, I'm happy for you, honey. I just hope you don't get hurt if he can't be around too often."

"We talked about that, Mom," the teenage Torres responded with a fond smile, "and he said he'd do his best to spend time with me. We both decided it was worth a shot, anyway."

"I can't argue with that," her mother admitted. "He's not nearly as bad as the press made him out to be." Connie's small smile turned gentle. "It's time to go, sweetie," she said softly.

Mitchie hugged Caitlyn one more time before approaching the catering truck. Caitlyn waved once more to both mother and daughter before jogging away to find her own parents. Mitchie stepped up onto the first step of the truck and paused, making a final hopeful scan of the increasingly deserted campground for her boyfriend. After a long moment, she let a disappointed sigh escape her lips and turned to continue ascending into the vehicle.

"Mitchie!"

Not even seeing the relieved smile on her mother's face, Mitchie turned back with lightning speed to find Shane running towards her. She stepped down onto the ground just as he reached the truck, and he promptly captured her in a firm embrace. She returned the hug gladly, both of their faces beaming.

"You didn't think I'd let you take off without saying good-bye, did you?" Shane quipped as he pulled away to face her. "Nate threw a fit when I ran off on our meeting!" he reported, seemingly pleased at the opportunity to annoy his business-oriented bandmate.

Mitchie giggled. "I'm glad you made it," she said sincerely.

"I don't have much time, though, and from the looks of things, neither do you, so…" He trailed off, and his tone softened slightly in order to better convey sincerity. "Thank you for an amazing summer. We will definitely be keeping in touch, and if I have anything to say about it, we'll be seeing each other again in person sooner than you think. You are amazing just the way you are. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Okay," she replied softly with a warm, slightly impish smile on her face. "You take care of yourself too, and don't let that ego swell up again."

He smirked. "All the more reason for us to keep in touch."

She laughed.

"Bye," he almost whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"Bye," she answered. Cupping his face in her hands, she pressed a tender, semi-chaste kiss on his mouth, which he gladly returned. She then stepped sideways into the truck and finally sat down next to her mother just as Shane's cell phone rang.

The rock star rolled his eyes knowingly as he flipped open the offending contraption. "Yeah, Nate," he said into the receiver, gazing up at the Torres and giving them a final wave before turning and walking away. "No, I am not whipped!" he protested after a short pause before finally strutting out of easy earshot.

Mitchie laughed and blushed simultaneously at Shane's comment.

"Not whipped! Who does he think he's kidding? That good-bye speech was almost as sappy as a maple tree!" Connie remarked teasingly before smiling genuinely at her daughter. "I'm glad everything worked out for you, honey."

"Me too, Mom," her daughter replied softly. "And the good news is: it's not over yet."

Connie chuckled as she ignited the engine and changed gears. "Something tells me you're right."


	4. SEQUEL ANNOUNCEMENT

**Okay, guys! I've begun working on a sequel that will explore Shane and Mitchie's relationship further as it develops over the course of the next year or so. I was surprised that this new story seemed to yield significantly less response than its prequel (particularly considering all the requests I got for a continuation in some form or other), and it occurred to me that perhaps some of the people who really enjoyed "I've Found You" weren't aware of "The Song Inside of Me." **

**A quick comparison of the Favorited and Alerts lists of each fanfic showed very little commonality between them, which supports my theory. Hence, I'm writing an extra "chapter" to assure that news of the sequel to this story reaches all those who have it in their Alerts. I may later remove this notice to avoid penalties, since it's technically against the rules, but for now, I'd like to take this opportunity to announce that the sequel to "I've Found You" is entitled "The Song Inside of Me" and has been posted with three chapters already written and many more to come.**


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